Three-hinged arch truss



K. W. FUGE THREE-HINGED ARCH TRUSS Oct. 7, 1952 3 Sheets-Shegt I Filed July 3, 1948 INVENTOR. ((A/QL w Fuss ATTORNEY Oct. 7, 1952 K. w. FUGE 2,512,854

' THREE-HINGED ARCH TRUSS Filed July 3, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. KAQL \AI. Fuss A TTORNE Y Oct. 7, 1952 K. w'. FUGE THREE-HINGED ARCH TRUSS 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed July 3, 1948 INVENTOR. KARL W F065 ATTO/QNE'Y Patented Oct. 7, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE THREE-HINGED ARCH'TRUSS Karl W. Fuge, Fort: Atkinson,.Wis'., 'assignor; to J. ames; Manufacturing Company; Fort Atkinson, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin.

Application July"3, 1948, Serial No; 36,856

The present invention relates to a novel build ing arch, and has for an object building acumplete arch in four elements, two of the elements consisting of curved bridge type structures, and the two other elements consisting of straight bridge type structures which are considerably shorter than the curved structures, the straightelements being preferably detachably secured to the curved elements.

Each element of my improved arch comprises spaced apart channels with their flanges turned inwardly, and being secured together by zigzag brace bars with the ends of the brace bars in juxtaposition. a

My improved arch when ready'toerect at the building site, consists of two half sections, their upper ends being connectedtogether preferably hinge-like and their bases then secured to the foundation preferably hinge-like, thus to form a three hinge arch.

A novelfeature of my invention is the shape ofthe arches when assembledintotwo half sections, each section comprising one curved element and one straight element, the straight element being rigidly but preferably detachably secured to the curved element, whereby-diiierent length straight elements may be used fordifierent width buildings, andwhereby the straight elements may be dispensed with entirely; for. example, in Figure 1 a forty foot spanisillustrated, or in other words a forty foot width buildingis provided for, whereas in Figure. 1.0.the. straight elements are dispensed with and the: two :curved elements are fastened together at'theirrupper ends, thus-to form a twenty seyenioot'span;

Thus clearly I have provided-meansiorsimplifying the "manufacture. of .my devicepby. providingv straight elements of. different lengths which can be used withonelength curved ele-' ments for several sized buildings;

In designing myarch trussall possible weigh and wind pressures havesbeen considered" and afactor of safety provided which insures against injury to the building from any source at a minimum weight and cost. It will be understood that because of thehinged structure as already recited there will be no unnecessarystresses in the assembled arch. I

To these and other useful ends. not already recited, my invention consists of partsfcombinations of parts or their equivalents andmethodof manufacture and assembling as hereinafter-described and claimed and shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is an end viewof my improved 2' arch truss including a. fraction of the roof or cover structure and sectioned directly in front of the arch and illustrating the fraction of the roof structure in perspective;

Fig. 2- illustrates an emarged 'fractionaL view of thepea-kof the assembly aszsh'own in Figural. l -1g. 3 is a transverse section taken on line 4 illustrates fra'ctionally; one side of a complete arch structure. as illustrated in Figure 1.

Fig. 5 is an. enlarged transversese'ctional view taken-on lines 5-'-5 ofFigure 4 Fig. '6-is an enlarged transverse sectional view taken'on' lines 6-6 of Figured r Fig; 7' is an' enlarged section taken on line 1--1 or Figure 4.

Fig. 8 i'san enlarged view of the base of one of the arches illustrating its fastening to the foundation.

Fig; 9} is a transverse-section taken on line 9-4 0 Figure"8.'

Fig; '10 -i's a diagrammatic drawing illustrating a modification.

In the 'figures -A designates the right and 1 left hand archesshown in fulliin' Figure 1. 13-13 illustrates the-straight 1 portion of' the arches. Thus a complete arch consistsrofitwo A members and two B members. 0 designates'ithe side foun-- dationwalls of the building and!) designates the fioor'of the building; Memb'ersC. and D generally are concrete and have-preferably spaced anchor-bolts I0 for'the length of the building for anchoring the side walls of theibuildingtogether.

, and Bare clearly illustrated in enlarged form in Figures .2 through 9. Members LA comprise two channels or beams ll and-l2 withJtheir-fianges turned-inwardly'as" clearly illustrated in Figures 5', Band '7. These channels aresha'ped as i1- lustrated and "formed preferably from fiat stock, each having inwardly turned projections It as illustrated. These projections add to the strength of the channels and" form an excellent surface't'o which the other parts of the-arches are secured preferably by electric welding. as follows:

Diagonal bars or braces M d 4 are positioned about 'as'shown in Figure'; consisting of preferably squ'are -in cross. sectiombars of steel of differentlengths,- their ends being welded lto projections I3," and -being in juxtaposition as shown. These braces 14 may be made from single I piecesof a-co'ntinuous length: of steel by bending as at ''l 5, they may be-insingle 'v shaped elements,-

I8 has an opening IQ for the reception of a bolt as will hereinafter appear. On the other end of members A I secure a plate by electric welding (see Figure 7), the left side of this plate being in alignment with the centers of projections l3 for a purpose which will hereinafter appear.

Thus I have described arches A in their entireties. Members B, as illustrated in Figures 1 and 4 have straight channels or beams and 25 which are shaped in cross section exactly like channels II and I2 and are secured together by means of brace members I4 similar to members A. On the upper ends of members B I secur preferably by electric welding, plates 21. The inner side of these plates are in alignment with the center of projections l3 for a purpose which will hereinafter appear. Plates 2! are provided with openings 28. On the other end of member B I secure a plate 35, preferably by electric welding. Plate 35, as shown in Figure7 has its right side in alignment with the center of projections l3.

Each plate 20 and 37 has a number of openings 36 arranged in two rows as illustrated in Figure 4 for the reception of bolts 31. Therefore members A and B will be detachably held together by plates 20 and with the beams in alignment, thus forming a complete arch as illustrated .in Figures 1 and 4. v

Members l8 as illustrated in Figure 9, are centrally positioned in the channels and weldedto projections l3. Member 21 is offset as described so when the two arches are fastened together by means of a bolt the bolts passing through openings 28, the inner ends of' nembers 25 and 25 will be held in alignment. It Will be seen that members 20, 35 and 21 form substantial fastenings with which to connect members A and B and the peak of members B together.

I provide base plates which may be anchored to foundation members C by means of bolts 46 or otherwise. Members 45are providedwith spaced plates 4'ifil adapted to closely embracemembers i8 (see Figure 9). Members 45 and 4'1 are provided with openings as illustrated for thereception of bolts 48, whereby members l8 and 41 may be firmly held together and the bottom of the arch trusses firmly anchored to the founda tions C. v

I will now describe my preferred design of means for fastening the roof or covering to the arch truss and a means for fastening the ceiling to the arch truss. I prefer to use nail grippurlins designated in the drawings in their entireties by reference character E, preferably as illustrated in a copending application, Serial Number 767,420, filed August 8, 1947, Waterman et a1. Members A and B have secured thereto preferably by electric weldin spaced anchor blocks 50. Purlins E rest on blocks 50 as clearly illustrated in Figure 2, the blocks being suitably secured to members H and 25 at the factory so it is a simple matter to position the purlins and secure them to members i i and 25 as follows:

Purlins E are supplied with openings 5| which are positioned as illustrated in Figure 3. I provide L iron clips 52-52 having openingswhich register with openings 51- for the reception of bolts 53. The lower lips of members 52 are provided with hooks 54 which are adaptedto firmly hold the purlins to channels H and 2-5, thus the purlins will be firmly held in spaced relation on the arch truss and provide suitable means for supporting the roof plates ,55, the plates being secured to the purlins preferably in a manner as described in the above referred to copending application. Roof members 55 are preferably a short distance apart at their tops, (see Figure 1) the upperedges having a roof plate or cap 51 which is shaped preferably as shown.

When the roof coverings 55 are joined together transversely by an inverted U shaped member 58 (see Figure 2) I provide two plates 59-59 which lie'on the top of members 58 and are secured thereto and to the purlins by means of extra long nails, each member at its lower edge having a downwardly and inwardly extending extension 60 which are out to fit between members 58 and having at their inner edges curved portions 6| which are adapted to lie together about as shown in Figure 2 so as to make the peak of the roof wind and water tight but permit independent expansion and contraction of roof covers 55.

When it is desired to cover all or a part of the arch truss on the inside, members E may be secured to beams i2 and 26 for supporting this covering in the same'manner as members 55 are supported.

lhus it Will be seen that my improved arch truss is simple, easily manufactured at low cost, strong and pleasing in appearance and easily erected by any man of ordinary intelligence.

Clearly minor detail changes may be made in the design shown without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as recited in the appended claim.

Having thus shown and described my invention, I claim:

A structural support for a covering for buildings of the character described, comprising in combination, four structural elements, each comprising a pair of spaced apart channels formed from flat stock, with their flanges turned toward each other, each channel at its transverse center having inwardly pressed relatively small projections, braces secured to and forming a connection between projections, two of said elements being considerably longer than the other two, and being formed in easy curves in the same direction with the ends of the channels closer together than the center portion thereof, the other two elements being straight, plates secured to the projections of one end of said two long elements and to the projections on both ends of said straight elements with means for removably securing short and long elements together, and for securing the plates together on the other end of said short elements by means of a single bolt, for forming the apex of a building closure support, the other end of said long elements having plates secured to said projections, pads secured to a building foundation and having projections embracing said last plates and held thereto by means of single bolts.

KARL W. FUGE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

